A booklet entitled "If You Ever Wanted to Sail Learn To Sail The Hobie Way" supplied by the builder of the Hobie 16 and 18 catamarans, teaches the basic righting technique. A line, preferably one half inch in diameter and twenty feet long, is attached to the shroud on the out-of-water hull, or, if the boat has completely inverted, to the shroud on the windward hull. The crew stands on the other hull and pulls leaning back ("hiking") as much as possible. On the "18" a sailor can stand on the dagger board to gain mechanical advantage. Even with such small boats, however, a lone, and especially a light, sailor may not create an adequate turning moment and requires rescue by others.
A number of inventors therefore rely on means to provide greater righting force. Typical of these are the following:
Cate, U.S. Pat. No. 4,516,518 teaches use of a spar that on upset is fastened to the in-water hull and a tension line rigged from the other hull to the free end of the spar and down to a person in the water thus providing an extended moment arm.
Segger, in U.S. Pat. No. 4,784,518 employs a similar rig but has the spar permanently fastened at one end at or near the center of gravity of the boat which is under the mast mount.
Lake, U.S. Pat. No. 4,651,666 aids the crew by providing a water bucket that adds considerable weight to the pull on the righting line which may be rigged over a spar or spars.
A number of teachings exist in which the weight of the upper hull can be added to the weight of the crew by lengthening the out-of-water shroud. Known to the applicant are the following:
Wortmann, in U.S. Pat. No. 3,820,489, teaches provision of a shroud with a readily releasable lower end. A slack lanyard is permanently fastened to the shroud and to the hull. Releasing the lower end of the shroud elongates it by the length of the lanyard. This in turn frees the mast to tilt and permits that hull to be rotated over the top center without lifting the mast. Then a turning moment is provided by a sailor (or several sailors) standing on the lower hull (in-water hull) pulling on a righting line fastened to the upper (out-of-water) hull. Once over the center, the weight of the upper hull adds to the righting moment and raises the mast out of the water by the now taut, elongated shroud. The shroud is then shortened, if possible. It is difficult to do this without rigging some means to provide mechanical advantage. A major problem not addressed by Wortmann is the possibility of having the end of the mast come out of the socket of its mount when shroud tension is released.
A device called "THE UPRIGHT SOLO RIGHTING SYSTEM", available from Hobie Cat, PO Box 1008, Oceanside, CA 92054, appears to incorporate Wortmann's teachings. The releasable attachment is a ball lock pin. The device is sold in a kit which includes a "MAST KEEPER" which is a cable with end fittings that can hold the mast downward to the deck to reduce the chance of a dismasting when a shroud is lengthened.
In U.S. Pat. No. 3,865,061, Newman teaches righting apparatus for catamarans that provides a fixed length elongation of the shroud that runs to the upper, that is out-of-water, hull of a capsized boat. A lever is employed to do this or a cable, winch, and pulley combination is used to hold the shroud in the shorter, forward position and allow it to be lengthened. This in turn frees the mast to tilt and permits that hull to be rotated over the top center without lifting the mast. Then a turning moment is provided by a sailor, or several sailors, standing on the lower hull (in-water hull) pulling on a righting line fastened to the upper hull much as in Wortmann'procedure. Further, Newman's apparatus shifts the effective attachment point of the shroud a short distance aft to counter the pull of the foresail with the object of helping to keep the mast in the seat of its universal mount. This apparatus allows restoration of normal rigging with relative ease. Newman also teaches use of auxiliary means to aid in keeping the mast seated; a cable that is tethered to the deck or a short cable running through the mount from the base of the mast to a retention washer below.
None of the above art teaches or suggests the means provided by the instant invention to release a selected shroud to permit tilting the mast and to provide and maintain a temporary compressive force on the mast during the righting procedure thereby preventing dismasting and permitting easy restoration of the sailing rig.